And the Oscar Goes to... Animals

As the Oscar race heats up, we noticed there's one interesting standout in the Best Picture category: this year's Life of Pi, which featured a ferociously cool tiger (who was actually played by four tigers and a lot of CGI animation). So does the presence of a furry friend in a film help or hurt award chances? We decided to take a look at some past winners and nominated films that starred a different species to see how they fared.

The Artist

Last year's Best Picture winner featured the Oscar-winning performance of Jean Dujardin, but for animal lovers, the real star of the film was Uggie, the Jack Russell Terrier. While he may not have walked away with an Oscar of his own, his on-screen tricks won enough hearts to score a book deal. His memoir, My Story, was published last October.